Summer Assignment (Honors English 2, Post #1)

For my summer reading I chose Looking For Alaska. It was written by John Green in 2005, and was also his first published book. It won the Michael L. Printz award in 2006.

 LFA is about a boy named Miles Halter, who convinces his parents to let him go to boarding school in Alabama. Shortly after arriving at Culver Creek, he meets his new roommate, the Colonel. The Colonel gives Miles the nickname "Pudge" and introduces him to another student, Alaska Young. On his first night at The Creek, Pudge gets taped together and thrown into the lake with the possessed swan by the Weekend Warriors. They are a rival group to the Colonel & Alaska. Them throwing Pudge into the lake was payback for a prank pulled on them by Alaska. I have really enjoyed John Green's other works and this one has also been interesting. I hope to find out more about Alaska as I continue reading.

This Is It, Folks. (Honors English Post #10)

I'm sad to announce that this is the last of my blog posts for Honors English 1B. This first year of high school has gone by so fast, and I am sad that it is coming to a close.Okay so now on to book stuff I guess. On January 30th, the book This Star Won't Go Out was released. On January 30th, I ordered it. What came in the mail a few days wasn't what I expected. A 500-something page hardback collection of stories, pictures, and letters is what came in the mail for me. I did some research prior to buying it about what the book was. I found out that Esther Earl's (who the book is about) parents and John Green (author of TFIOS) wrote the introduction to the book. I'm probably about 150 pages into because since there is no plot to the book, I couldn't really blog about it. I am looking forward to read it over the last few days of school and into the summer. I hope to read 5 books over this summer, as I have quite a list going. Let me know how many books/which ones you plan to read this summer!

On to the next adventure (Honors English 1B Post #9)

I have had Hollow City since March 17th. Yeah, you read that correctly. MARCH. I'm still using my "I was reading Fahrenheit in the middle and so that makes up for not reading" excuse. I think the best thing about FINALLY finishing HC is the fact that there is a note in the back that said that there is a third book in the series coming out soon. To be completely honest here, the ending wasn't thrilling. Around the end, it was the action-packed, mystical, mysterious plot that got me sucked into these books. Then when I got to the last few pages it was kind of... empty. I think it ended at a very good spot to pick back up with a third book, though. Props to Ransom Riggs. I think Riggs has grown as an author since his debut novel and the first in the series, Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children. While Peregrines left everything open at the end, HC brought everything full circle and connected everything back together so that mostly everything makes sense now. One of the biggest mysteries that gets solved is the name on the front of the book (under the book cover): Perplexus Anomalous. From a quick Google search when I first started the book I found out that he is the only male ymbryne (IM-brinn, a type of Peculiarality where they can manipulate time & turn into birds, only female ymbrynes.) Perplexus Anomalous is the name of the only male ymbryne. I found this to be perplexing. He never gets fully explained in the book. I'm hoping for a better explanation in the third book. Overall, I give these books a 9/10. I would really recommend them to anybody, as I have really enjoyed them. Let me know if you have any suggestions of a next book for me!

The Mother of all Parties (Honors English 1B Post #8)

Column: The Mother of all Parties 
Author: Dave Barry

Dave Barry is a humor columnist for the Miami Herald, retired in 2005. In The Mother of all Parties, he writes, "Like many moms, my wife believes that a child's birthday party requires as much planning as a lunar landing -- more, actually, because you have to hire a clown." In this quote you can really hear Dave's voice come through his writing. You can envision the way he moved his hands and the tone in which he said it. It puts the two of you on a first name basis. All throughout this column he uses a conversational tone which makes it fun and interesting to read. He keeps things sarcastic as he describes the minuscule details his wife puts into the party for their soon to be 4 year old. He also pulled in a facetious quote from a birthday party planning website which actually makes you laugh out loud. Dave Barry uses sarcasm and a very conversational tone with his columns that make you want to read more. 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2014/03/05/dave-barry-parenting-tips/5982019/

Read mo

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e here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2009/08/23/1181265/the-mother-of-all-parties.html#storylink=cpy

Wear Sunscreen. (Honors English 1B Post #7)

Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young: A fantastically written column by Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune in 1997. The column was written to the class of  '97, it was advice to them as they go out into the real world. I found this article to be great. Not only was the advice Mary gave solid, she worded it in a way that made you think. The column was written in a paragraph form, pretty typical, but then she broke up the structure by adding in one worded paragraphs. These one worded paragraphs brought your eyes straight to them, signifying their importance.
"Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself."

While this article was written for/dedicated to the class of 1997, it is still very relatable to me and really anybody. I think everyone who does read this can get something out of it. The advice is important and I would recommend it to anyone.

http://zulkey.com/2013/11/the-mary-schmich-interview.shtml#.U101eVVdWSo

Hollow City Predictions (Honors English 1B Post #6)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's been a month and I'm STILL reading Hollow City. I'm using Fahrenheit 451 as an excuse.
Where I'm at:
Jacob and the Peculiar children got to the Peculiar animal menagerie. Miss Peregrine is still stuck as a bird and as of now, there isn't much hope of her ever going back to human form again. The kids have 2 days to get to 1914 London to find more time loops to get to the people who captured her originally.

Predictions:
They are going to find the loop (obviously, what kind of book would it be if the heroes didn't win?)
They are going to get stuck fighting Hollows (the book is called Hollow City for a reason, right?)
I'm not expecting a finality to their adventures. I don't feel like that after I read the last page then the book will be over. The adventures of the Peculiar children will continue after the ambiguity of an ending that I am expecting.

451° Is Fairly Warm (Honors English 1B Post #5)

     Fahrenheit 451 was only slightly painful to read. The book is split into 3 sections instead of chapters, which I'm not a big fan of. The beginning was extremely slow and boring to read. Ray Bradbury went into excruciating detail, which I find to be exhausting. An example of this is found on page 134, "The sun burned every day. It burned Time. The world rushed in a circle and turned on its axis and time was busy burning the years and the people anyway, without any help from him. So if he burnt things with the firemen, and the sun burnt Time, that meant that everything burned!". I find this paragraph to be irritating to read. He repeats the words time, sun and burned so many times that it is a little confusing. 
My brain gets tired of reading those words over and over and it makes my mind drift off so that I don't even know what I'm reading anymore.

           I had so many questions during The Hearth and the Salamander that it was hard to get through. There was apparently a war going on, they went to a doctor who wasn't a real doctor, they had a room with TV for walls; it was confusing. Even though Bradbury did go into such detail, he kind of leaves it up to the reader to figure major questions in the book (does it make me a better reader? No. It makes me more confused.) The second part was much better. The pace of the book picked up and things started to make more sense (after my countless questions were answered). One of the worst things was that the ending was unsatisfying. It reminded me of Looking for Alaska by John Green. There was a ton of build up, and I was waiting for the climax of the plot, only to be let down by the unsatisfying and almost ambiguous ending. If I had to give the book a rating, I would say 6/10. I found things I liked about the book including the theme, but the description he went into bored me to no end. Who would like 451? If you are interested in futuristic, sci-fi, and plot twists, you might just enjoy 451.

http://altarstudio.blogspot.com/2012/01/too-personal.html

Hollow City (Honors English 1B, Post #4)

We are four weeks into this trimester and I'm sad to say I haven't finished a book yet (besides Fahrenheit. But I'm not counting that). I read Miss Peregrines in two days, and I've now had Hollow City for 3 weeks. Today I took the time to sit down and actually read for pleasure and it was fantastic. I had to give myself a little refresher on Jacob's world in Hollow City. Jacob and his newly found peculiar friends are exploring their new world, still stuck in 1940 during WWII. As they are trying to get away from Nazi soldiers who are also Peculiar hunters, they stumble across another loop entrance. This is part of the book where the pictures really help. When Riggs described a house, "It was very small, and perched not atop a cloud but on a very large tower constructed entirely from stacked-up railroad ties, the whole thing set smack in the middle of a grassy plateau. It was one of the strangest man-made structures I'd ever seen." (Riggs, 76) This description was perplexing to me as I didn't understand how you could stack up railroad ties and then put a house on top of them. Then on the next page there was a picture and then a clear image in my head. After that I thought what it would be like to be there. What if I was a peculiar? Anyone could be, really. Maybe they just haven't found out about their powers yet. That's one of the many reasons I like science-fiction and fiction in general, they can make you think about what all kind of people could possibly be in the world. As far as I know, I'm human.

Hollow City Scene (Honors English 1B Post #3)

"After three hours of rowing like galley slaves, distance had shrunk the island to the size of an open hand. It looked nothing like the foreboading, cliff-ringed fortress I had first laid eyes upon a few weeks ago; now it seemed fragile, a shard of rock in danger of being washed away by the waves."
(Riggs 21-22)
Jacob Portman, a young peculiar boy watches as the island that in two weeks worth
of time had become his home disappear from behind him; it is the last time he, or any of his friends will see it again. When he first got there, he didn't know what he was looking for. His grandfather left him a trail of breadcrumbs (a book of poetry, a letter, an island, and a name- Miss Alma Peregrine.) He asked around about a house mentioned in the letter, but everyone in the town said no one had lived in the house since the bombing in the 40's. Jacob was discouraged at first, but eventually he figured out the secrets that guarded Miss Peregrines home for the Peculiars. Now that he abandoned his home, his technology, his whole life to be with them, he was with them for good. Now the home that he had come to love and feel safer than he had felt in his entire life in was crumbled up and smoldering in bomb residue. The other children had been in the house for 80+ years, and even Jacob felt himself leaving a piece of him in the house and he had only lived there for 2 weeks. 70 years later, or 2 weeks ago, depending on perspective--time isnt linear, it's more wibbly wobbly-timey-wimey than that, he finds out that the house was indeed hit by a bomb, but time was now moving forward for the children. My questions at the moment: How long are the children going to last not being protected by the Bird and the house? Is Millard's gunshot wound going to heal?

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children---Review (Honors English 1B Post #2)

I consider myself a pretty average reader when it comes to timing. I read Miss Peregrine's in 2 days. Miss Peregrine's is a story following Jacob Portman, a teenager who witnessed his grandfathers death by what everyone is telling him is a make-believe creature. After countless times of describing the creature that haunts his dreams, his therapist is the one to really convince him its just shock from witnessing his grandfathers death, a coping mechanism. Grandfather Portman's dying words lead Jacob to a book, which leads him to a letter, and eventually to the island where the children in pictures appearing throughout the book were only supposed to be real in Grandpa Portman's stories. One of the best parts of the book are the creepy pictures that appear after each of the children are described.
I would recommend Miss Peregrine's  to pretty much anyone. I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat, so I only read when the sun was up. I can't wait to get the sequel, Hollow City.

http://pagetopremiere.com/category/miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children/

http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Peregrines-Home-Peculiar-Children/dp/1594746036

August Pullman (Honors English 1B Post #1)

     August ("Auggie") has changed throughout the course of Wonder. August has been through his first year at real school, Beecher Prep, and grown up quite a bit from it. Before fifth grade, he was just the boy with a facial deformity, but after fifth grade everyone realizes he is not just that. He is an average fifth grade boy. Before fifth grade, he was a little kid. Over his year at Beecher Prep, he matured a lot (or as much as a 5th grader can mature, anyways).
     One quote that really signifies Auggies growth and maturity would be, "I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives." This is from close to the end of the book. Not many fifth grader are as mature as Auggie, but not many have had to go through (and continue to deal with) the daily struggles that he does. I would say his genetic issues have aged him, but a lot of his maturity is just him.

Future Reads (Best Sellers Post #12)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Ransom Riggs

Hollow City Ransom Riggs 

Eleanor & Park Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl Rainbow Rowell

Attachments Rainbow Rowell

13 Reasons Why Jay Asher

Before I Fall Lauren Oliver

Room Emma Donahue 

An Abundance of Katherines John Green

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer

Orange is the New Black Piper Kerman

This Star Won't Go Out Esther Earl

Unwind Series Neal Shusterman 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson John Green & David Levithan 

Tree of Codes Jonathan Safran Foer

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? Maria Semple

Uglies Scott Westerfield
Silver Linings Playbook Matthew Quick
I Am the Messenger Markus Zusak
Divergent series Veronica Roth

Book Talk Prezi (Best Sellers Post #11)

Jellicoe & Wonder (Best Sellers Final)

Books: Jellicoe Road (2006) & Wonder (2013)

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Jellicoe Road, the story of Taylor Lily Markham after being abandoned by her mother at the 7/11 bathroom in Jellicoe town when she was 11.  She was then whisked to boarding school by Hannah, the reclusive, 30-something, perplexing lady who is the only person Taylor has ever felt close to. Jellicoe is Marchetta’s 3^rd  novel.

The plot of Jellicoe is confusing when you start reading (actually until about halfway through the 400+ page book). There are two different stories taking place. One is a novel that Hannah, who went missing in the beginning, is writing. Hannah has been writing the story for as long as Taylor has known her. Taylor likes to sneak bits of the manuscript, but has never read it all in order. The other plot is following Taylor, a confused teenager who is suddenly in charge of her whole house of girls, and the schools representative for the territory wars.

 

Taylor isn’t a likable character. She is rude, anti-social, and has no real-world skills. Not likable, but very relatable for most.

 “What do you want from me?" he asks.                                                                               

What I want from every person in my life, I want to tell him. More.” (Marchetta)

 She got forced into the role of representative for her school, and she has no idea what she’s doing. And would it really be realistic fiction if there wasn’t even a little bit of romance?   

“If you weren't driving, I'd kiss you senseless," I tell him.

He swerves to the side of the road and stops the car abruptly.

"Not driving any more.”  (Marchetta, 315)

The character who grows on you would be Hannah. In the beginning, Hannah isn’t a real winner. She lives alone in the unfinished house by the river, and just when Taylor needs her, she disappears. Jellicoe is a fairly easy book to read, because there are a lot of diverse characters, one of whom a reader can identify with.

The main ideas of the Jellicoe are finding your identity, the importance of family,  and discovering yourself.

Wonder R.J. Palacio

Wonder, the story about August Pullman, the boy born with several genetic mutations, leaving him with a facial deformity. “His eyes are about an inch below where they should be on his face, almost halfway down his cheeks. They slant downward into his face, and the left one is noticeably lower than the right one. They bulge outward because his eye cavities are too shallow to accommodate them.” (Palacio, 88) Wonder is R.J. Palacio’s debut novel.

The book begins with August (Auggie) as the narrator. Then later on, it switches to Via, his older sister. She is struggling with the guilt of being slightly embarrassed of Auggie at her new school, where she isn’t just known as “the girl with the special needs brother”. The plot of the story is interesting; Auggie tells the story, then other characters, when they become narrator, will go back and retell the same story, from their point of view and add something more every time. Auggie is the narrator who pushes the story along the most.

The romance aspect is a little different in Auggies case, since he is still in 5^th grade. There are kids “dating” (what exactly is dating in 5^th grade? Sitting beside each other at lunch.) Auggie is a funny character, and has learned to laugh at himself.

 “I think we're too young to be dating. I mean I don't see what the rush is." Summer says.

"Yeah, I agree," said August. "Which is kind of a shame, you know what with all those babes who keep throwing themselves at me and stuff?”

The main ideas of Wonder are identity and trying to fit in in a new situation.

I enjoyed both Jellicoe Road and Wonder a lot. For Jellicoe, I would give it a solid 4.5/5 stars, for confusing plot line (but it did keep me flipping pages). For Wonder, I would have to say a 4.5/5 as well. I feel like it could be a little more exciting. It’s a good book, and it’s not boring, but it does get a little bit repetitive. I also think it’s a little below my reading grade level (not trying to sound snooty, there are a lot of 6^th graders reading it) but I do think it’s a quality book and I would recommend both of them.  I would recommend Jellicoe if you are a faster reader, and Wonder if you read at a slower pace. 

Blog Reflection (Hon English 1A)

Worst post

http://bethellensbooks.blogspot.com/2013/12/who-is-book-thief-hon-english-1a.html

Who is the book thief? (Hon English 1A)

I just started reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. So far, I have found out that the book is narrated by Death. He begins to tell the story of the times he has seen the book thief. The first is when the thief’s brother dies. Death comes to pick his soul up from a train, but does something he usually doesn’t do; he stays with her and her mother. The second time is when her mother and she bury the boy. This is where the girl steals her first book. Then, Death tells how the mother takes the daughter to a foster home on Himmel Street. The mother has some kind of condition that she has to keep paying to get better, and she can no longer support her children. This book is interesting to me and I am excited to continue reading. I want to learn what happens to the book thief at the foster home. Will she ever see her mother again? When will Death next see her? I also want to see the movie, but only after I finish the book.

Best post

http://bethellensbooks.blogspot.com/2014/02/wonder-hon-english-1a.html

Wonder (Hon English 1A)

Wonder is about a 5th grade boy named August (or Auggie by his family). He was born with a facial deformity and has been homeschooled and lived a very sheltered life until now. He is starting middle school this year, and has been accepted into a competitive school- Beecher Prep.

Text-to-self connection...

August's English teacher, Mr. Browne has monthly precepts, or mottos to live by for that month. "You can't blend in when you were born to stand out" has been my favorite. I think it not only goes with Auggie, who was treated by family as if he were "normal" when he obviously isn't; but can connect with everyone. Everyone is different, so why act as if we are all the same? Being different is okay, and I don't think enough people know that. Auggie is only in 5th grade, and isn't struggling with the comments, the stares, the things that people do when they don't think he can't see, because he grew up always being used to it. So many people care what other people think of them. Who cares? What other people look like only effects them. I can identify with Auggie in a way that I know some other people can, that what people think isn't a big deal. I don't let it change who I am, because at the end of the day, I am here to please me and not everyone else, like Auggie.

Blogging Reflection

Experience:

What was one strength you had with blogging?

Reading and writing has always come pretty easy to me. I think blogging kept me on top of getting my reading done.  I can’t quite find the time at home to read, but I read a lot in Best Sellers. I think after this tri is over, I’m going to have to set aside reading time at home. I think blogging helped me understand the books I was reading better. I usually don’t write about them, and I liked blogging overall. The hardest thing for me was figuring out what I wanted to write about in my blog. Overall, I had a good blogging experience.

Growth:

How has the quality of your writing improved over the course of the trimester?

The quality of my writing has improved. In my Who is the book thief? post, it was no more than a summary. I got bored as I was re-reading it. One thing that was a bit of a struggle was making connections outside of the text. I never knew how to connect with the writing.  It makes it a lot easier to connect if you can identify with qualities of a character. In my worst post I stated, “I just started reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. So far, I have found out that the book is narrated by Death.” That is a boring piece to me. If I was to re-word that, it would be “I just started The Book Thief (Markus Zusak). The most interesting piece so far is that it is narrated by Death.” That sentence makes me want to read more. It’s more exciting. Instead of it being just another piece of information, I want to know more. I want to know how Death narrates, what he is like; I want to know specifics. In my Wonder post, I worked to get a real world connection. In Wonder, I can identify in some way with Auggie. That helped me whenever I was making a connection to myself. I definitely don’t struggle with the same kind of problems that Auggie does, but I think that it still comes together. I like how I gave a very short summary and then explained more in my connection; I didn't give a long summary and then explain it all when it wasn't necessary. I also thought my connection was strong, and can identify with lots of people. I gave a short summary here and then explained it, “Being different is okay, and I don't think enough people know that. Auggie is only in 5th grade, and isn't struggling with the comments, the stares, the things that people do when they don't think he can't see, because he grew up always being used to it.” I took an example from the book and then put it into my own words. I think that makes it an easier concept to understand if you can’t identify with this certain situation. 

Likability Post #9 (Best Sellers)

Likability

I'm currently reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio. When you first start, the narrator is noted in the front by a picture, a name, and a quote to represent either the person or the story they tell. All the narrators start out telling the same story from a different point of view. The first narrator is August Pullman, or Auggie. He is the main character, a fifth-grader, going to school for the first time ever because he was home-schooled all his life. I see him as a very likable character. In the beginning of the book, you feel bad for him, because he was born with a facial deformity. As you get to know him, you stop feeling bad and start to like him a lot. The second narrator is Auggie's older sister, Via. Via has come to accept that she will always be second to her parents, that Auggie will always be their main priority. The third narrator is one of August's only friend from school, Summer. Summer sits with him on the first day of school and they become very good friends, and their parents then meet and become friends. Summer is very likable, and a social-norm rule breaker. When no one else sat with August, she is the one that did. By breaking that "rule", she started a very great friendship. The narrator that I am on currently is Jack. Jack was called on by Mr. Tushman (the principle) to show August around the school and to hang out with him for the beginning of the school year. After a few days, they became good friends and Jack stayed with August because he liked being his friend. In the beginning, Jack seems like a really nice guy, likable and funny. Then August over-hears him making a rude and extremely mean comment and their friendship goes downhill from there. The character that you really don't like is Julian. Julian was another one of the kids called by Mr. Tushman, but was rude and mean from the start to August. He thought he was popular and didn't want to be there to help the new kid around. Julian's whole group of friends are the "mean popular kids" who make all the rude comments about August. I'm excited to see what happens with them. I want to know if Julian and Jack will do the right thing, and that keeps me reading.

Post #7- Book 3 Trailer The Book Thief (Best Sellers)

Non-fiction (Best Sellers post #8)

I think to be non-fiction, a book needs to be about 97% true. Exaggeration of a story is okay, but when you make up a whole other life for yourself, and call it a memoir, that is lying. If I buy a book and it's labeled non-fiction, I expect it to be a true story. Adding in a few details or maybe a small character that didn't really happen is okay in my opinion. But when it gets to be like a story passed down through a family, getting becoming more and more different than what actually happened, that is too much. I think fiction authors have a lot more leeway when it comes to facts. Fiction writers can write about a real event but make up the story completely (historical fiction, The Book Thief)  or completely make something up from their own imagination. This is something that non-fiction writers can't do. If I had to give it a cold-hard definition, non-fiction would be 97% facts, true story, and 3% exaggeration. If the story isn't the least bit exciting, I can't say that I would sit down and read it. So it makes sense to have a little bit of embellishment thrown in there.

Wonder (Hon English 1A)

Wonder is about a 5th grade boy named August (or Auggie by his family). He was born with a facial deformity and has been homeschooled and lived a very sheltered life until now. He is starting middle school this year, and has been accepted into a competitive school- Beecher Prep.


Text-to-self connection...
August's English teacher, Mr. Browne has monthly precepts, or mottos to live by for that month. "You can't blend in when you were born to stand out" has been my favorite. I think it not only goes with Auggie, who was treated by family as if he were "normal" when he obviously isn't; but can connect with everyone. Everyone is different, so why act as if we are all the same? Being different is okay, and I don't think enough people know that. Auggie is only in 5th grade, and isn't struggling with the comments, the stares, the things that people do when they don't think he can't see, because he grew up always being used to it. So many people care what other people think of them. Who cares? What other people look like only effects them. I can identify with Auggie in a way that I know some  other people can, that what people think isn't a big deal. I don't let it change who I am, becuase at the end of the day, I am here to please me and not eveyone else, like Auggie.

Jellicoe Road (Hon English 1A)

The worst thing about my book is...
Switching the plot. The story switches between Taylor Markham in real life and Taylor's dreams, which are the same as her caretaker, Hannah's book. Hannah is the closest thing to a parental figure as Taylor has. She is her dorm adviser at the Jellicoe Private School. Hannah recently went missing, just as Taylor was promoted to her schools representative in the "territory wars" between the Cadets (a military school) and the Townies (the public school in town). The book starts off in Hannah's book, before you meet any characters. At first, you think the 5 people in the separate story are just in Taylor's dreams, but later as the puzzle pieces start fitting together you pick up on the fact that it is actually both her dreams and the book that Hannah has been writing since they met. The only message Hannah left when she disappeared was with the principle, that she was going to help a friend, Ms.Dubose, an allusion to To Kill A Mockingbird (which the principle doesn't get.) Taylor is failing at her job of being Jellicoe's rep, and her life is falling apart without Hannah there. Taylor has been sneaking parts of the manuscript of the book so that is how she has been reading it, and then leading to the dreams. The pieces are now starting to come together of Hannah's relationship to the book. The book has made more sense since I kept reading, but it is hard to stick with. I'm about halfway through and it is just now starting to come together.

Romeo & Juliet (Hon English 1A)

I have somewhat enjoyed reading Romeo and Juliet so far.  When I read the text at home, I go line by line and I have to read at a much slower pace than I would read a book I chose. I think acting it out in class would help understand (since we have only acted out one scene) because I'm a visual person, it helps me to see what is happening and not just reading though it. One thing I don't like about it is that I know what happens at the end. I'm not one to read the end of a book before I read the rest of it, and I don't understand why the end was written in the prologue. It makes it less exciting to read. What's the point in reading it if I know what happens at the end? I like watching the movie version also. I like the old version better because the newer version seems very fake, like they were trying too hard. Overall, Romeo and Juliet hasn't been to painful to read.

Melina Marchetta (Hon English 1A)

Jellicoe Road is written by Melina Marchetta. She lives in Sydney, Australia, with her newborn daughter. 

She has written other books including  Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca , and Finnikin of the Rock. 

Awards:

Looking for Alibrandi:

 Children's Book Council of Australia award (1993)

Saving Francesca:

Children's Book Council of Australia award (2004)

Jellicoe Road:

WAYRBA voted by teenagers in Western Australia (2008)

US Printz Medal (2009)

Finnikin of the Rock:

 Aurealis Award for YA fantasy

Looking for Alibrandy was made into a movie, and Jellicoe Road is being made currently. 

A video about Melina's writing room: 

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/firsttuesday/s3860882.htm

Works Cited:

http://melinamarchetta.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/looking-for-alibrandi.jpg

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/47104.Melina_Marchetta

Blog #6- Readicide (Best Sellers)

Is Readicide a problem in schools?
Yes. I know so many people who hate reading because of school. Schools require books/plays/other texts to be read and then students don't read outside of class because they don't like the books they read in school. My solution would not be to take out all required reading. My solution would be to take books that are more recent to our times, but with similar messages and themes of the older texts. Then you could take pieces of the older texts to reference and compare between the two. One of the most important part of reading for me is my relations with the characters, and if I can identify with anyone in the book. When I read Shakespeare, its hard for me to even read the text, must-less identify the characters. Nothing against Shakespeare of course, but why can't we read something more up-to-date?
Is literary fiction relevant to our current culture? Is it preparing students for the job market you are about to enter?
If analyzing text and finding the theme of a piece of text is going to get me anywhere in life, I'm all set. I don't know how to turn a washing machine on, but hey I can read Elizabethan text. Are skills from reading actually going to help me in the real world? Reading is important, but we are just not reading what we should be in schools. I understand The Fault in Our Stars isn't going to teach me how to work a washing machine, but it is so much easier to relate to and to understand. The world and the culture we live in today is different from the world William Shakespeare lived in.

The Book Thief Review (Hon English 1A)

I am nearing the end of The Book Thief. So far I have really enjoyed reading it.

A summary:

TBT is narrated by Death. Death tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a young orphaned German girl that was taken in by foster parents, Rosa and Hans Hubermann. Death tells her story over a period of a few years, during the Holocaust and WWII. Shortly after moving in with the Hubermann's on Himmel Street, she meets her neighbor, Rudy Steiner. Rudy and Liesel have many adventures, and they are always getting into trouble together. Liesel came to love her foster parents (especially Hans, whom she called Papa) and couldnt dream of a life without them. The book really picks up when Hans reveals a huge secret to Liesel, they would be hiding a Jewish man in their house from the outside Nazi Germany world.

Type of reader who would enjoy this book:
Someone who is interested in the Holocaust
Someone who like historical fiction 

Anyone who likes suspense and a page-turner

Book rating:

A+

Post 5: The Book Thief Adaptation (Best Sellers)

 

 

 What specific challenges would a filmmaker have in adapting your book to the big screen? Walk through some of the specific ways that the plot or characters would need to be changed to make it work. 

I think one of the biggest challenges in The Book Thief movie would be Max's day dreams about fighting the Führer. A large crowd surrounds them, and at the end, the whole crowd joins Hitler in the fight, and Max says that he can feel the punch from all the nation on him. The movie directors would have to work hard to make sure that those of the audience felt that with Max. I think it's a scene that should be included.

 

o   Explain three specific scenes you think are essential to keep (based on where you have read to so far) and not change in order for the adaptation to work. 

• Stealing apples from the farm with the older kids (spoiler- the leader of the pack leaves and they get a new leader, and it seems like something is going to happen in the future with the new leader and Rudy)
• When Liesl reads the first book that Max makes for her (a quality scene in the book, which could be very emotional on screen.)
• Liesl leaving the mayors' house for the last time (spoilers- the mayor and his wife can no longer have their laundry done by Liesls mother, but Liesl gets to keep a book, and throws a big tantrum)

 

o   Discuss two specific parts of your book you would have to cut if adapting it.  These could be plot events, subplots, minor characters, etc.  What would you have to exclude in order to include what’s most important?

• Liesls' brothers death/burial scene. I think a better way to tell that is through the flashbacks/nightmares she has in the begining of her stay. I dont think that is the best way to start a movie.
• As far as I have read, the children that they play soccer with can be cut out. They can still play soccer, but just never really go into detail of the kids like in the book.